Analyzing the different frames through which we experience war, Butler calls for a reorientation of the Left

In this urgent response to violence, racism and increasingly aggressive methods of coercion, Judith Butler explores the media’s portrayal of armed conflict, a process integral to how the West prosecutes its wars. In doing so, she calls for a reconceptualization of the left, one united in opposition and resistance to the illegitimate and arbitrary effects of interventionist military action.

Reviews

“It's clear that its author is still interested in stirring up trouble—academic, political and otherwise.”

– Bookforum

“Judith Butler is quite simply one of the most probing, challenging,
and influential thinkers of our time.”

– J. M. Bernstein

“Judith Butler is the most creative and courageous social theorist writing today. Frames of War is an intellectual masterpiece that weds a new understanding of being, immersed in history, to a novel Left politics that focuses on State violence, war and resistance.”

– Cornel West

“An impressive and challenging book from one of the leading intellectuals of our time.”

Celebrating #WomenInTranslation month at Verso, we are highlighting international editions of Verso books by women whose writing has made an impact around the world.

The second in our series showcases Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence by Judith Butler, an impassioned response to the wars of post-9/11 America and a call for solidarity in shared precariousness across borders, now available in French, Italian, Turkish, Swedish, Chinese and Japanese translated editions since first publication by Verso in 2004.

Judith Butler's new book interweaves her two theories of performativity and precarity with the works of Hannah Arendt, Giorgio Agamben, and Emmanuel Levinas as a way to critically assess and speak to Tahrir Square, Occupy, Black Lives Matter, and other movements of dissent. In this interview, Stephanie Berbec asks her to consider her work in light of the recent events at Standing Rock and the 2016 presidential election.